Path to inner peace

In the last few years we have witnessed immense problems in our country which has downgraded our positioning in global markets. Not only were there strikes and loss of millions of man-hours in factories, industries, business establishments and government offices but there were also communal conflagrations, ethnic enmities, commercial clashes of interests, et al. which resulted in heavy consumption of a nation’s monetary resources. It is so dismal that instead of attention, money, manpower and energy being put to use for the well-being of the people, these have been utilised to check man’s evil attempts at harming each other. Thus keeping in mind the immense loss of mankind due to these conflicts, there is always a strong desire by governemnt’s all over the world to eliminate such misconduct. However, before moving ahead in this direction, people in power need to understand that one peculiarity of these conflicts is that these do not die after having lived their period but leave seeds for future conflicts or inflict other conflicts before they wither away.

Today literally every government puts in efforts to resolve political conflicts, restore communal peace, settle industrial disputes, end militaristic confrontations and so on, but we find that despite best efforts by the people in power, we are no longer near our goal. Why is it soIJ

There is no doubt in this that every sensible person wishes that these conflicts, which are the enemies of man and which recur with more or less vigour after lying dormant for a while, be ended somehow. In other words, all want harmony and amity to prevail at all strata of society and for all times and in all ways. But unfortunately we are passing through such a long and dark tunnel that we are yet unable to see the light at the other end. Perhaps one of the main reason for our failure is that we try to end these various kinds of conflicts separately. We make separate efforts to have harmony in each sphere thinking that harmony in all these would bring overall peace. But we fail to realise that such piecemeal efforts will not serve any purpose because, before we have eradicated the causes of conflicts in one sphere, these would reappear in an aggravated form in another sphere. And before we have brought the trouble under control in the other sphere, it would have appeared again in the first sphere. 

So, then what actually is the remedyIJ How do we have harmony in all the spheres once and for allIJ A thorough and deep analysis of the nature of these conflicts would lead us to the discovery of the truth — that the source of all these conflicts is the human psyche. In other words, we ourselves are the source or generators of these conflicts. After all, political, economic, religious and other aspects are the various aspects of the human personality. These are the manifestations of various human interests. So, it is disharmony at this source that causes various kinds of troubles. In that case, how can disharmony in various spheres be eliminated unless its source is plugged and the leakage at that point is stoppedIJ Hence, if there is a conflict between man’s mind and intellect, or man’s emotions and intellect, or between sanskars and intellect or even between intellect and intellect, then this is bound to find its manifestation in various forms like political, economic, religious, et al.  It is necessary that the inner conflict within human beings be first stopped to achieve inner harmony. In this context, it is essential to recognise that inner harmony is possible only through spiritual wisdom, meditation and spiritual values.